A valuation approach to investigate the sustainability of sorkhe-dizaj iron ore mine of iran

Abstract

Mining activities affect environment, economic and society in its surrounding region. This study aims to assess the sustainability of Sorkhe-Dizaj open-pit iron ore mine which is located 300 km in north-west of Tehran-capital of Iran. The annual ore production of Sorkhe-Dizaj open-pit mine is 400,000 tonne, extracted an area of 16.67 Km2 . In this research, modified Folchi method has been used to assess the sustainability of Sorkhe-Dizaj mine. Folchi method is a 2D matrix to quantify the environmental impacts related to mining activities during the mine life-cycle. In its matrix, the rows represent 10 impacting factors of mining activities and columns represent 11 environmental components. The developed Folchi model covers economic and social aspects of mining operations in addition to environmental factors. The developed Folchi matrix has 28 impacting factors and 12 components. The results of developed model showed that, human health and safety, social relationship, water and air quality, flora, fauna and economy have high negative effects on sustainability of mine site among 12 components.